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ISSN : 0971-7447 ENVIS BULLETIN ________________________________________________________________________ HIMALAYAN ECOLOGY Volume 14, No. 2, 2006 G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development (An autonomous Institute of Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India) Kosi-Katarmal, Almora - 263 643, Uttaranchal, India ENVIS Bulletin : Himalayan Ecology 14(2), 2006 1 About the Bulletin ENVIS Bulletin on Himalayan ecology is a biannual non-priced publication of the ENVIS Centre that was established at the headquarters of the G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development (GBPIHED) in the financial year 1992-93 with the financial support from the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, New Delhi. The present volume of the ENVIS Bulletin is fourteenth in a series of its biannual publication and contains papers on various aspects of agriculture and biodiversity conservation, etc. The news and views offered in the papers in this publication are the views of the concerned authors. Therefore, they do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors and ENVIS Centre of the Institute. The content of the Bulletin may be quoted or reproduced for non-commercial use provided the source is duly acknowledged. The contributions to the next issue of the Bulletin in a form of research paper, popular article, news item and technical report, etc., related to the aspects of Himalayan ecology, are always welcome. However, the matter supplied by the individual/ organization may be edited for length and clarity. Request for institutional subscription of the Bulletin may be sent to the Scientist-in-Charge of the ENVIS Centre. The comments/suggestions for further improvement of the Bulletin are also welcome. Dr. P.P. Dhyani Executive Editor, ENVIS Bulletin, G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development, Kosi-Katarmal, Almora – 263 643, Uttaranchal, India Tel : 05962-241153(O)/241156(R)/9412092189(M) Fax : 05962-241153/241150 E-mail : [email protected]/[email protected] Website : http://www.geocities.com/ppdhyani2003/ 2 ENVIS Centre, GBPIHED Contents Research Papers SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURE IN NORTH EASTERN INDIA: A QUEST FOR MORE ECONOMICAL AND RESOURCES SUSTAINABLE ALTERNATIVES A. K. Mishra and J.P. Mishra SURFACE FLOW AND SOIL LOSS UNDER DIFFERENT LAND USE CATEGORIES : A CASE STUDY FROM EASTERN HIMALAYA, ARUNACHAL PRADESH R.C. Joshi, Jumri Riba and Tage Rupa ETHNOMEDICINAL PLANTS IN ARUNACHAL PRADESH : SOME TACIT PROSPECTS Nursadh Ali and Bappa Ghosh POPULATION AND SUSTAINABILITY ISSUES IN MOUNTAINS : A CASE FOR THE UTTARANCHAL HIMALAYA Vishwambhar Prasad Sati AN INVENTORY ON ZOOPLANKTON, ZOOBENTHOS AND FISH FAUNA IN THE RIVER RAMGANGA (W) OF UTTARANCHAL, INDIA S.S. Pathani and K.K. Upadhyay Research Communication Harnessing the economic potential of Orchids in Uttaranchal Ajay Kumar Singh, Rakesh Mer and C. Tiwari Selected Abstracts Forthcoming Events News & Views Hindi Section Ek/; fgeky; ds ikjEifjd d`f"k ra= esa vk/kqfud Qlyksa dk d`f"kdj.k % ,d oSKkfud v/;;u lquhy ukSfV;ky] vpZuk ukSfV;ky] ds0,l0 jko ,oa vkj0ds0 eS[kqjh ENVIS Bulletin : Himalayan Ecology 14(2), 2006 3 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURE IN NORTH EASTERN INDIA: A QUEST FOR MORE ECONOMICAL AND RESOURCES SUSTAINABLE ALTERNATIVES A. K. Mishra 1# and J. P. Misra 2 1Sr. Scientist (Soil and Water Conservation Engineering), Water Technology Centre, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110012. #Corresponding Author 2Professor and Head, Department of Agricultural Economics, N.D. University of Agriculture and Technology, Narendranagar, Kumarganj, Faizabad 224229 (U.P.) INTRODUCTION North Eastern Region (NER) of India is located between 21.5 o to 29.5 o North latitude and 85.5 o to 97.5 o East longitudes. The North East (NE) of India constitutes the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura. Flanked by hills and with the mighty Brahmaputra river slashing a central path between its north and south, the North East is bounded by the states of Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura with Assam comprising the heart. Arunachal Pradesh lies to its north and Sikkim a little away in the North West bordering China and Bhutan. Bangladesh and Myanmar lie to its southwest and east. The western side of the NE is connected to the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent by a narrow land corridor; sometimes referred to as the Siliguri Neck or "Chicken's Neck". The hills of NE region contribute its major area with Assam and Sikkim states and Darjeeling on its periphery forming the North Eastern Himalayan zone in the Indian territory while Bhutan and Chittagong hills of Bangladesh lie outside the boundary of Indian republic. Hill states of India have a total geographical area of 5.63% of the country (approximately 183,813 km 2) with a population of 1.13% to be supported on its natural resources. The NE states are quite different and peculiar in nature due to their distinct topography, (highly rugged steep mountains and hills to rolling topography of plateau region) terrain comprising mountainous region, hills and plateaus interspersed with valley lands in the foot hills of the hills, extreme climatic characteristics that results in above 11000 mm of average annual rainfall in Cherrapunjee and Mowsynram Ranges. Inaccessibility and remoteness of the places, dense forest cover and poor and underdeveloped infrastructure system are characteristics of the NE region of India. DEMOGRAPHY The NE region of India is sparsely populated as compared to other parts of the country. The total population in 2001 was 10286.10 millions. The population density in the region varies from 55- 60 persons per km 2 as compared to 275-290 persons per km 2 in plains. The population growth rate in the region during the last decade has been 21.54% and is expected to increase up to 25%. Nagaland is the state with highest population growth rate during last decade. PHYSIOGRAPHY The NER is characterized predominantly by hilly terrain, deep gorges and flat valleys. The average annual rainfall of the region varies from 2000 to 4000 mm. The climate varies from sub- tropical to extreme temperature and is bestowed with rich natural resources viz, water, petroleum, minerals, rare flora and fauna. The region is broadly divided into four major divisions. (i) Assam valleys (ii) Assam Himalayas (iii) Meghalaya hills and (iv) Eastern high lands. Assam valley is 80- 129 km wide and 725 km long. The river Bhahmaputra passes through the middle of the valley. The 4 ENVIS Centre, GBPIHED Mishmi hills, Abor hills, Mikir hills, and Dafla hills are in Assam Himalayas in Arunachal Pradesh. The Meghalaya hills (Shillong Plateau) is in south of Assam valley. The Garo, Khasi and Jaintia hills, Mikir hills and North Cacher hills are in Shillong plateau. The Eastern high lands include the Patkai, Naga hills, Barail hills, high lands of Manipur and Mizo hills. Manipur lies on the east of the Barail range, whereas Tripura lies in the western flank of Mizo hills. Nagaland is situated between Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh. Av. Climatic Water Demand Climatic Water Balance at Barapani, (evaporative rate) in NER, mm 6 Meghalaya Evaporation 350 5 mm 300 4 250 3 mm 200 2 150 Rainfall (mm) 1 100 Evaporative demand, demand, Evaporative Evaporation 0 mm) ( Rainfall/ET 50 (mm) r l ay Ju 0 Jan Ma M Sep Nov Jul Apr Jan Oct Jun Feb Mar Nov Sep Dec Aug Months May Months Max./Min. Relative Humidity (%) at Long Term Average Maximum and Barapani Minimum Temperatures at Barapani 30 100 25 80 20 60 15 RH1985 RH% 40 ( Deg. C) Deg. ( 10 MaxT 20 RH1992 Temperature 5 MinT 0 0 r p v an a Jul o J M Se N l May ry ri st a rch ay ne Ap M Ju July Months Ma Augu cember JanuFebruary October e MonthsSeptember NovemberD Soil temperatures (deg. C) Wind Velocity at Barapani (kmph) 30 8 25 7 6 20 5 15 Soilt15_1 4 Soilt15_2 3 10 Soilt30_1 2 5 Soilt30_2 kmph) ( Velocity 1 0 0 Temperature (Deg. C) l n r n y u p eb a Jul ug ep ct ov a a J e Ja F M Apr May Jun A S O N Dec J Mar M S Nov Months Months Figure 1. Representative agro-climatology of Barapani, Meghalaya in North Eastern Region of India ENVIS Bulletin : Himalayan Ecology 14(2), 2006 5 CLIMATIC RESOURCE AND AGRO-CLIMATIC SUB-DIVISION The altitudinal differences coupled with varied physiography contributes to climatic variations in the NE region of India. The climate in the region varies from sub-tropical to alpine. Despite diverse physiographic characteristics of the region, sub-regional variations in the average seasonal temperature are not striking. Bulk of the annual rainfall in the region (64%) is received during June – September period. The North Eastern states of the region, through have 7.75% of the geographical area of the country receives about 12.7% of the total precipitation in the country. The area can be divided in to three climatic region viz . (i) the cold humid monsoon climate of the frontier hilly region (above 200 m); (ii) wet sub-tropical monsoon climate and (iii) humid mesothermal monsoon climate with heavy monsoon showers. Average annual rainfall in the region is about 2490 mm with highest rainfall of 12,500 mm in the world in the Cherrapunji Mawsynram state. The region, due to heavy rainfall, has very high humidity varying from 62% to 91% in rainy season and 42% to 65% in other seasons. The climatologic parameters are depicted in Figure 1. Accordingly the NE India has been divided in the agro-climatic zones as; Alpine zone, Temperate sub-Alpine zone, Sub-tropical hill zones, Sub- tropical plain zone (valley areas) and Mild tropical hill zone.